Kerry Moyes has come a long way from serving in the UK Royal Navy in Belgium and Gibraltar. Her interest in international law inspired her move to Kosovo. Over the past year and a half she has been working as a legal officer in the Supreme Court of Kosovo. And this is not all: her travel is set to continue as she will leave the Mission at the end of March.

It might surprise you, but Kerry Moyes did not practice law for most of her professional career. She started with the Royal Navy as a Communications Officer in the Warfare Branch, where she was dealing with electronic communications. Kerry served in the Royal Navy for 20 years, but she knew that she would like to leave the service at the certain point of her life.

"I gave a lot of thought to what I would like to do and I considered a number of professions. But in the end, I decided that the law would be the field that I would be the most interested in. So I set about training myself to do it." Kerry says, and adds that "It was a good decision, right one for me. I cannot imagine doing anything else."

Kerry started studying law part time when she was still in the Navy. When she left the service, she enrolled at the College of Law as a full-time student for a period of one year to complete the Legal Practice Course. After that, she joined the courts service as a trainee lawyer.

"For the first two years you work as a lawyer on a training contract. As well as your day-to-day work, you also have to pass some exams and complete a number of specific tasks to prove that you have done your practical consolidation of what you have learnt", she points out and adds: "In the UK lawyers are split between two different types: barristers and solicitors. I am qualified as a solicitor."

Solicitors and barristers both must complete a law degree, but their work is different and therefore their vocational training is different. Generally, barristers work on a self-employed basis in 'Chambers' and spend most of their time doing advocacy in court. On the other hand, solicitors work in a wide range of legal fields and are usually employed within firms.

Before she came to Kosovo she had been working for 7 years in the courts service in England as a legal advisor in the Magistrate Court, which is a basic court in UK. Occasionally, she worked in family courts, but for most of the time she was involved with criminal courts.

When she was still with the Navy, she was appointed to NATO for 3 years and started working at the Supreme HQ in Mons, Belgium. Her assignment coincided with the 1991-94 conflicts that accompanied the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. Her job was related to preserving communication security and for several months she was involved in supporting the NATO operations that were being conducted at that time. She has been interested in the Balkans since then.

"I was also interested in working abroad and being in Kosovo combines all the things I was interested in: the Balkans, international law, and it is still about practicing criminal law", she points out.

In Kosovo Kerry works in the Supreme Court as one of three international legal officers. Her responsibility is to support EULEX and local judges in the adjudication of cases. These would be the cases referred to the Supreme Court from the lower courts and occasionally also brought directly by the convicted persons.

"I receive case files, review them and provide research on different legal issues when necessary. I prepare a summary of the case for judges, supply them with all the papers they need and make arrangements for a session or a hearing if there is going to be one. Otherwise, it will be a deliberation between the judges which I attend as well. I usually also draft rulings and judgments, as well as other documents for the judges' approval"." Kerry explains her main duties in EULEX.

There are three tiers of the judicial system in Kosovo. The basic courts constitute the first instance and that is where the cases are decided. In basic courts trials are held as well as all hearings leading up to the trials. After the sentence is delivered in the first instance the case can be appealed to the court of appeal . There is then the highest instance, which is the Supreme Court. Although there is the Constitutional Court here in Kosovo as well, in terms of the judgment becoming final, the Supreme Court is considered the last instance.

The main professional challenge that she must face in the Supreme Court is the workload which must be processed within a strict timeframe. Kerry notes that in order to succeed with this task, it requires a lot of time and effort from a number of people.

"I enjoy working very closely with international and local judges as well as with my colleagues, other legal officers. This is something I did not experience before. I did not have an opportunity to work on large and complex cases that take some time", Kerry says stressing that this is one of the greatest advantage of being here in Kosovo with EULEX.

When she is not helping EULEX and local judges, Kerry is happy when she can travel around to some places in the surroundings countryside, or when she has a chance to get know local culture and Kosovars.

The biggest personal challenge for her is, however, living so far away from her family back in the UK, and also thoughts about the extent she and her colleagues can improve things. "I think that a lot of people have unrealistic expectations as to how much they can affect change, when really what you can do is your personal tiny contribution. But every bit is still important, because every little bit can gradually contribute to improvement moving forward towards the final positive change". Another challenge for Kerry is: "No Starbucks in the neighborhood, which I am addicted to", she admits laughing.

After work, when she has some time for herself, she tries to go to the gym at least twice a week, but she wishes she could go more often. Otherwise, she is studying for the distance learning 'LLM in Human Rights and Humanitarian Law at Aberystwyth University, Wales.

Only recently she has realized that she has to leave Kosovo already at the end of March. "I will be missing Kosovo", Kerry says, "The time has gone so quickly and there is so much more I have not done here yet. I will be missing the cosmopolitan environment of this blend of lots of different people and going back to the UK again will be quite strange".

She will be also missing Sharr Mountains and Batlava Lake as well, since these are her favorite spots in Kosovo. But there is also a positive side of going back home - she will reunite again with her family.